


hey, you good ones

by pineovercoat



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-29 13:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17204183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineovercoat/pseuds/pineovercoat
Summary: At his side, Rose shifts. Her necklace spills out from her pilfered coat, the chain loose like her hair. He tucks both back safely, careful not to wake her, and smiles.





	hey, you good ones

**Author's Note:**

> found this in the gdocs, document created uhhhhh january 8th 2018? aw jeez. brushed the dust off and here it is over a year later whoops. short tag-on immediately post TLJ.
> 
> title from always love by nada surf

The hallways of the Millenium Falcon are dim, humming with a low light. Half of what’s left of the Resistance has scattered, the adrenaline of their survival dropping steeply into the inevitable crash of exhaustion. The few that remain are dragging their feet into sleep. Finn knows he should follow, but his body won’t allow it, still shaking with energy and anxiety and the knowledge of being alive. 

Poe’s made himself scarce. If Finn had to guess, he’d say he’s made his way to the cockpit- the last few hours of being grounded have no doubt taken their toll. The man’s used to being the one to flirt with danger, not being actively pursued by it, death nipping at his heels. That’s commitment. There’s nothing like mortality and the new mantle of leadership to make you seek out some kind of control.

Rey’s resting, and it’s well deserved. He’d spoken briefly with her, but it hadn’t taken long for her to start nodding off in the middle of her sentences, so he’d sent her off with another warm, careful squeeze around her shoulders. A little part of him had been expecting to talk to her until his voice was hoarse, but for now maybe their hug said the most important things- _I can’t believe you’re here, I’m so glad you’re okay, I missed you so much._ Something feels changed about her, but he figures that’s a conversation for another time, and anyway, he can hardly blame her. Or Poe. Or any of them.

Finn doesn’t envy the weight they’ve carried- but then, these past few days have changed him, too. So much has happened in so little time. He’s taken on causes like he’s taken on names- FN- 2187, soldier; Finn, defector; Finn, traitor; Finn, rebel scum. He likes the last one best, not least because he took it for himself.

He can hardly believe that just days ago, he was on Starkiller Base, fighting a phantom. From desert to snows, from the stars to salt and red earth, from being nothing to being someone, Finn feels like he’s lived more life in the past few days than some will ever see in their whole lifetimes. Once, he thought all he wanted was to be safe, to live a quiet life, but a good one, with his head down- was it really only eighteen hours ago?

So much has changed.

At his side, Rose shifts. Her necklace spills out from her pilfered coat, the chain loose like her hair. He tucks both back safely, careful not to wake her, and smiles.

Getting out with their lives was miracle enough, he thinks, as he watches her. More than he ever dreamed possible, if he’s being honest- but he can’t help being grateful for Rose’s necklace in particular. 

The codebreaker is a complicated mess of feelings in his head- a lot of them anger, betrayal, and indignance, but there’s also an odd, detached sort of shame. It feels old already, but he holds onto it for the knowledge that he could have ended up a DJ just as much as he’s become a Finn. It’s a grounding thought, a little darker than he likes to dwell on, but it’s important. Although, something bright manages to break through the swirling, confusing storm whenever he thinks of how, in the end, DJ had given the necklace back. 

It’s a beautiful design, even on its own. Simple, sure, but lovely. Strong. There’s a steadiness and a balance in the curl of negative space around her necklace- its twin is lost, but not gone. It lives in the emptiness that frames the pendant, where it will always save a place for its counterpart. In that space rests the mark of a life lived. It’s not one he was ever lucky enough to know himself, but he knows the impression that Paige Tico made, the footprint she left behind on this galaxy, cast in ore, one that can’t be washed away by any tide. Negative space, yes, but not nothing.

People are the same, he thinks. They exist on their own, but they’re shaped by the things that have touched them. 

He thinks of the brief press of Rose’s lips to his and feels warm.

Even though they’d only known each other- stars, how long? A couple of days? By the end of it, of battle after battle after weathered storm, it was difficult to think of the person he’d been before. The world without her. 

She’s so full of love, he thinks. It burns through her, as shining and strong as any Force, and she’d given that love to everything around her- to The Cause, sure, but more importantly, to a couple of kids in a stable, to some fathiers that she’d probably never see again, and to the hope that, because of what she was doing, some people who she’d never even meet might have a life worth living even after she was gone. 

The depth of her passion makes his chest tighten. There’s something in knowing someone finds you worthy of that kind of faith, thinks the cold and empty expanse of space is a little warmer with you there. Wants a future with you in it.

Right now, the spaces between her fingers are empty, relaxed. But, he thinks, looking over the loose curl of her hand- when she wakes? He wouldn’t mind being their compliment.

“Wake up soon, dummy,” he says, squeezing her wrist briefly. 

He pulls the blanket higher over her shoulders, and finally lets himself rest.


End file.
